The Boy Nextdoor
by MissFiyerabaMeponineSherlock
Summary: After her loving mother dies, Eponine Thenardier is left alone with only her abusive, uncaring father. Will her miserable life change when she meets her new neighbour, Marius Pontmercy?
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys. So this is a random idea that popped into my head awhile back and I decided to write it. Enjoy!**

**Also, only the prologue is in third person. The rest will be from Eponine's point of view.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Les Misérables, nor do I own the characters**

_Prologue_

Eponine Thenardier did not have the best life. Her father beat her when he was drunk (though this was unknown to her mother), she rarely got enough to eat and, as a result, was bone-thin, and she was forced, by her father, to pick-pocket. Her family was very poor and her father often spent money meant to buy food on alcohol, which his wife greatly disappoved of. Her mother, Liane Thenardier, loved her very much. She always tried to get food for her when her husband, whom she both loved and feared, was not paying attention. But there was hardly any food. Thenardier kept most of it for himself. This being said, Liane often gave Eponine her food, which Eponine normally refused to take, stating that her mother needed to eat. But her mother would not listen and would all but beg Eponine to eat. So she would. But then Liane, the only person in the world who cared about Eponine, became sick. Very sick. Thenardier couldn't be bothered to buy medicine for his sick wife and she died, leaving Eponine all alone. Eponine had been with her mother when she died, she had held her hand during her last moments.

After her mother's death, the beatings she received from her father became worse and more frequent. He no longer only beat her when he was drunk, but multiple times a day. Eponine didn't cry when he beat her, she never made any noise. She had promised her mother that she would be strong.

Strength can only take you so far.

_1_

"Ep'nine, where're yeh?" My father drunkenly slurs as he walks into the apartment, slamming the door shut behind him. "Ep'nine, git over 'ere!" I sigh as I walk out of the small room that I call a bedroom. I suppose it could be worse, I mean, at least I have a bedroom. In the past, my father and I had lived in one room apartments. At least in this apartment, as shabby as it may be, I have my own room and my father has his. Not that he really gives me much time to myself. He normally has me out pick-pocketing, or out stealing bread, or 'entertaining' his gang. Not that I actually do that last one. When his gang, the Patron Minette, comes to the house, I leave. I never have anywhere to go to, so I walk through the streets. The streets are what I can actually call home. I know them well, better than most. I know my way around, which is always an advantage when I'm being chased by the police for theft. I've never been caught.

I look at my father. He's rather large, both in height and in width. He has dark red hair and a scruffy red beard, complete with sideburns. His dark, beady eyes glare at me and his mouth is set in a frown. I can smell the alcohol mixed with tobacco smoke, even from a distance. He's obviously wasted. I can tell from the way he wobbles from side to side and the way his words are slurred.

"Hello father." I say quietly.

"Ep'nine, the gang'll be 'ere soon. Go 'n git some wine fer us."

"You're already drunk."

"S'what? Git some wine. Three bottles." he says. I sigh again. There's no use arguing with a drunk. I leave the dingy apartment with the rotted flooring and the peeling wallpaper and walk down the stairs of the Gorbeau building, where our apartment is located. I walk down the familiar streets, pick-pocketing a few passersby as I walk, soon reaching the Corinthe, a wine shop. I walk inside. It's a quaint little shop, with almost a homey feeling to it. The walls are a deep red and it has a nice wooden floor. There aren't many people inside, just three of what look to be university students. One has curly black hair and dark stubble, another looks young, though he is balding, and the third looks anxious about something and has a very clean look to him. The first seems to be quite drunk.

Turning my attention away from them, I walk up to the bar and I order 3 bottles of wine, which I pay for with the money I pick-pocketed. I suddenly have the feeling that someone is watching me... multiple someones. I turn and find that the three students are watching me as Madame Hucheloup, the owner of the wine shop, hands me the three bottles. I raise an eyebrow at them and they look away. As I'm leaving, I distinctly hear them talking about a revolution.

I hurry back to the Gorbeau building, knowing that my father hates being kept waiting. When I walk through the door to our apartment, I find that the Patron Minette is already there. Montparnasse, my father's right-hand man, walks over to me and takes the bottles from me. I decidedly don't make eye contact with him. Montparnasse is, in every sense of the word, an ass. He often insults me and hits on me at the same time. He's tried many times to take advantage of me, though I'm able to fight him off. He has some sort of obsession with me. He won't leave me alone, and it terrifies me. I fear that one day, maybe I won't be able to fight him off, that he'll overpower me and I'll lose what's left of my pride.

But he doesn't bother me this time. He just takes the wine from me and walks back over to the others. While they busy themselves with drinking, I sneak back out the door and down the stairs. It's dark and there are no candles, I'm pretty much blind. In the darkness, I bump into someone while going down the stairs and I lose my balance, nearly falling all the way down. Lucky for me, the shadow (for that's all the mystery person seems to be in the darkness) catches me, their strong arms instinctively wrapping around my waist.

"Th-thank you." I stutter, my eyes wide.

"Anytime, Mademoiselle. After all, it was I who bumped into you." the voice belongs to a male, probably not much older than myself. He sets me back on my feet.

"No, no, Monsieur, the fault was all mine. I'm sorry." I apologise.

"No worries." he says. I can hear a smile in his voice. "I'll see you around, Mademoiselle." he says before continuing on his way, up the stairs. I smile slightly and continue on my way down. Maybe there are some nice people in Paris.

I walk down the streets. It's raining a little bit now, but I've never minded the rain. Paris truly is beautiful at night. Though the stars that normally shine brilliantly and the moon that is normally so bright in the night sky are absent, hidden by the dark clouds, Paris is still beautiful with the pavement shining like silver in the rain. As I walk, I softly sing to myself, something that I often do,

"_The darkness of the night is so becoming_

_The moonlight against the street shines_

_The raindrops are softly drumming_

_Against the green pines_

_The crescent moon smiles in the sky_

_And the rain whispers_

_Tree branches wave at all who walk by_

_Times seem simpler_

_The stark outline of a bird's wings unfold_

_The flower petals open_

_Like a story to be told_

_Once the sun has risen_

_The faint glow of the moon disappears_

_Replaced by the sun of bright gold_

_A bird's chirp is heard by all ears_

_Singing a song of old_

_The brightness of the day is so becoming_

_The sun in the sky shines_

_The raindrops are no longer drumming_

_Against the green pines._" I sing softly.

My mother used to sing me that song when I was little and it remains to be one of my favourites. I find myself near the Seine. I smile as I look at the tiny ripples in the water cause by the many raindrops. I look down at my reflection in the water, distorted by the tiny rain drops that cause the ripples. I don't look like my father, nor like my mother did. I have long, tangled, dark brown hair that has a bit of red in it. That bit of red is as far as my resemblance to my father goes. I have rather large hazel eyes that sometimes look brown and sometimes look green and are framed with thick black lashes. My eyes are the only part of myself that I actually like. I don't think that I'm very pretty. I'm far too thin to be pretty. My cheekbones are sharp and they jut out. There are dark bags under my eyes that make me always look tired. My shoulders are bony and they too jut out. My waist is a lot smaller than it should be, all of my ribs are visible. I'm taller than most girls my age are, which is just another thing that makes me different. My legs are thin and bony. My face is rather gaunt, which I hate. I never get enough to eat. That's why I'm so thin, so gaunt. But I don't think that's ever going to change. I'm never going to get enough to eat, I'm never going to get to wear real dresses and not these rags. I'm never going to have a good life. I'll alway be poor, I'll always be a street rat. It's just who I am and there are some things that, no matter how hard you try, you just can't change.

I'm a street rat, nothing more.

**I hope you guys liked it! Please review!**

**I now have a blog for my account. In it, I will talk about future story ideas, current stories that I'm working on, and you'll probably get some sneak-peeks. If you wish to follow me on tumblr, my tumblr name thing is missfiyerabameponinesherlock . tumblr . com**

**Also, please check out the new poll on my profile page. It's regarding one of my future stories, Behold the Night That Falls, which centres around the attack on Rue Plumet.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey everybody! Here's the next chapter, in which Eponine will meet Marius**

**Also, so y'all know the song that Eponine sang in the last chapter? Well I submitted that into a poetry contest with the Poetry Institute of Canada and I found out that it made it into the finals :D**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Les Mis or the characters**

I stay out late, not really wanting to return home. I know that my father and his gang will be drunk. I know that Montparnasse will be drunk... I really hate it when he's drunk... Though my father tends to be more violent when drunk, it's Montparnasse that terrifies me. He grabs at me, he... he kisses me. I hate it. I hate him. He's so repulsive! I fear that my father might marry me off to him and he won't give me any choice. I would fight it, of course, with everything that I have. But I know that, in the end, there would be nothing I could do. I'm not as strong as my father, as much as I hate to admit it. But it wouldn't only be him, it would be the entire Patron Minette. They'd probably force me at gun-point to say "I do." It's terrible, really, how true it is. I fear that it's my future. I really hope it isn't.

I've tried to run away before. I've never succeeded, but I have tried. Several times, actually. But my father finds me... he always finds me. He won't let me go, not after my siblings ran away. I have two siblings: my sister, Azelma, and my brother, Gavroche. I still see 'Vroche from time to time, but Azelma has disappeared. I haven't seen her since she left a couple years ago. I fear she may be dead. Gavroche lives in a giant, hollow, stone elephant. It's supposed to be a dedication to some politician or something. Napoleon, maybe? I don't know, and, honestly, I don't really care. Gavroche keeps himself fed. He's smart, really. He knows how to escape the cops, he knows how to get food, and he knows his way around Paris– almost as well as I do. Sometimes, when we see eachother in the streets, we stop and talk for a little while, other times we just keep walking. I worry about him sometimes, especially when it gets cold, just as he worries about me. He knows that our father sometimes beats me and that scares him, in fact, it's one of the few things that does. Other than that, Gavroche is fearless. I admire him for that.

When I hear the bells of the Notre-Dame ring 12 times, I know that I should return home. Hopefully they'll all have passed out by now. Still, I walk slowly, putting it off as long as I can. But eventually, I end up back at the Gorbeau House. I walk inside and start climbing up the stairs, soon reaching the floor our apartment room's on. I look at the front door of the room next to ours, noticing a soft light escaping through the cracks. So we have a neighbour now... I wonder how long this one will last. The Gorbeau House is, after all, rather run-down. Besides that, my father isn't exactly the best neighbour. He and his gang are loud, especially when they're doing their favourite activity: beating me. Whatever happens to me, our new neighbour will probably hear. Though, like the others, he or she will most likely ignore it.

I quietly enter our rundown apartment. Everything is quiet, leading me to believe that they are, indeed, passed out. I tiptoe to my bedroom, quietly opening then closing the door. I can hear the rain softly tapping against the window. I'm about to start stripping down for bed, when I have the peculiar sensation of being watched. I squint, trying to see through the darkness, and I see the silhouette of a man, who I assume to be Montparnasse. I wait a moment, allowing my eyes to adjust, and I find that my assumption is correct. Montparnasse is standing in the corner of my room. I sigh.

"What the hell are you doing here?" I ask him quietly, knowing that the walls are very thin and, not only would the Patron Minette be able to hear, but so would our new neighbour. Though I can't quite see it, I know that he is smirking.

"Waiting for you, dear Eponine." he replies, making no attempt at keeping his voice quiet. He steps towards me, placing his hands on my waist. I shove him away. "Why so cold?" he asks me, his face uncomfortably close to mine.

"Don't touch me." I hiss, stepping back from him. He makes another grab at me. "Leave me alone." I snap, taking another step back. My back is pressed to the wall now. Montparnasse places his hands on both sides of me, almost pinning me to the wall. Then, in one quick motion, he presses his lips to mine. I try to push him away but he's stronger than me, so I have no choice but to wait until he's finished. When he finally is finished, I slap him across his face. He grabs my shoulders and slams me against the wall in anger.

"Don't you e_ver_ do that again." It's hard to miss the threatening edge to his voice.

"Then don't kiss me ever again." I reply coldly.

"Like you could do better."

"Having no one at all would be better." I retort. He punches me in the jaw and then shoves me to the ground. I try not to wince, even though I know he probably wouldn't see it. I continue, "No one wants to be with someone as abusive as you, someone who only gets what they want by force." He kicks me in the stomach. I can't help but cry out. My stomach was already bruised. "I will never be yours." And now he loses it completely and he continues to punch and kick me. I can feel blood dripping down my face from a gash in my head. I know I'm going to be even more bruised tomorrow. Then he grabs me and throws me onto my sorry excuse of a bed and he straddles me. "Get off!" I say, fear creeping into my voice. I struggle, but he pins my arms down. He kisses me forcefully. I try to cry out, but his mouth is pressed so hard against mine. He forces his tongue into my mouth and I nearly gag. When he finally pulls back to breathe, I let out a cry. I can't help it, really. I know that no one will come to my rescue, but I'm terrified. I admit it, I'm terrified of what he might do to me, of what it seems that he _will_ do to me. Tears start to fall from my eyes.

I hear a knock on the door. Not on my door, on the door to our apartment. Has someone heard my cry? As Montparnasse presses his lips to mine again, I can hear my father mumbling something tiredly as he walks over to the door and opens it. I hear a voice,

"Is everything okay? I heard someone cry out." I recognise the voice. It's the same young man that I bumped into on the stairs. Montparnasse pulls back, listening as well.

"Wha'? Yeah, ev'rythin's fine." I hear my father reply. Of course _he_ doesn't care what happens to me. I take my chance.

"Help!" I cry out. Normally I would be too proud to ask for help, but I know that if I didn't, then Montparnasse would take complete advantage of me.

"Ignore 'er," I hear my father say, "She's prob'ly only 'avin' a nightmare or somethin'." Montparnasse kisses me again, seeming happy with my father's response. I try to push him away, but, once again, I fail.

"Really, Monsieur, I must insist." I hear the young man say.

"There's nothin' wrong, now leave." my father says. I can hear the young man shoving past him and advancing towards my bedroom. Montparnasse doesn't seem to be listening, doesn't seem to have noticed. I continue to thrash against him just as the door opens and there stands the young man, holding a candle which illuminates the room. Montparnasse looks up, his mouth leaving mine, but other than that, he does not move.

"I would suggest that you leave her alone." the young man says to Montparnasse, who laughs in response.

"Yeah? And what are _you_ going to do about it?"

The young man walks over and, quite easily, pulls Montparnasse off of me and then drops him on the floor. I quickly get up, as does Montparnasse. He takes a swing at the young man, who dodges it and then punches him in the nose. Montparnasse stumbles back and trips. He falls and hits his head hard off the ground. He's out cold. I take a moment to look at the young man. He is rather handsome, with jet black hair and startlingly green eyes. He's tall, fit, and looks like he might be a student. He looks at me and smiles kindly.

"Are you alright, Mademoiselle?" he asks me.

"Y-Yes..." I stutter, immediately cursing myself for doing so, "Thanks to you."

"It was no problem at all." he assures me, smiling again. I smile back, though very slightly. Then, after a moment, he says, "Forgive me, Mademoiselle, I have forgotten to introduce myself. My name is Marius Pontmercy."

"I'm Eponine." I reply, "Eponine Thenardier." Marius holds out a hand, which I shake.

"Mademoiselle, forgive me if I'm wrong, but this does not seem to be a very safe place for you at the moment."

"No, it really isn't." I sadly agree.

"If I may be so bold, I would like to offer you a place to stay, at least for tonight."

"I wouldn't want to be a burden..." I say, even though I would like very much to stay with this kind, handsome young man. Even if he is almost a complete stranger, anywhere is better than here.

"You wouldn't be."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course!" he says with a bright smile that I can't help but return.

"I would love to."

Marius smiles and walks out of the bedroom. I follow close behind him, knowing that my father will have a thing or two to say about this. Lucky for me, he seems to have passed out again. I follow Marius out of mine and my father's apartment and into his.

There truly are some nice people in Paris.

**I hope y'all liked it! Please review!**


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